oopsie-daisy

1 of 2

interjection

oop·​sie-dai·​sy ˈ(w)u̇(ə)p-sē-ˌdā-zē 

ˈ(w)ü̇(ə)p-

variants or oopsie daisy or whoopsie-daisy or whoopsie daisy or less commonly oopsy-daisy or oopsy daisy or whoopsy-daisy or whoopsy daisy

—used to express surprise or distress or to say in a mild way that you are sorry about having done or said something wrong

I tried to step casually off the barstool, but instead I stumbled and nearly fell. "Oopsie-daisy!" Mr. Mickleson said, and my father gave him a hard look …

—Dan Chaon

Nothing screams "oopsie daisy" [="oops"] quite like a company that fumbles even after the president becomes involved.

—David Segal

Whoopsie daisy! … Alex takes a spill in soft, flaky snow …

—Kristin Tillotsin

compare upsy-daisy

oopsie-daisy

2 of 2

noun

variants or oopsie daisy or whoopsie-daisy or whoopsie daisy or less commonly oopsy-daisy or oopsy daisy or whoopsy-daisy or whoopsy daisy

plural oopsie-daisies or oopsie daisies or whoopsie-daisies or whoopsie daisies also oopsy-daisies or oopsy daisies or whoopsy-daisies or whoopsy daisies

1

informal : a usually minor embarrassing mistake, accident, or failure

… it often is the case that today's triumph is tomorrow's oopsie-daisy.

—Jane Fraser

We can't excuse this as a whoopsie-daisy. There has to be accountability moving forward.

—Nino Erba, quoted in The Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, Iowa)

… everyone makes a whoopsy-daisy at some point when speaking …

—Mark Peters

2

or oopsie-daisy baby or whoopsie-daisy baby informal : a baby resulting from an unplanned pregnancy

Because he was an oopsie-daisy, Mom had given all her baby stuff away by the time he arrived.

—Jen Hatmaker

Lance was almost ten years older—Lara had been a bit of a whoopsie-daisy baby …

—Kristen McKanagh

Word History

Etymology

Interjection

perhaps blend of oops and upsy-daisy

Noun

derivative of oopsie-daisy entry 1

First Known Use

Interjection

1924, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1985, in the meaning defined at sense 1